Finding the Past, Changing the Future
by kathadesaii
Summary: Harry's summer before fifth year, he along with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Tonks, and the twins find out a secret about Sirius, changing the all of their lives forever. AU fic. Will turn into a reading the books fic.
1. The Pensive

Starts the summer of Harry's fifth year. It's a typical reading the books story but is also AU.

"Fred! George! What _are _you doing?" Hermione hissed.

The mentioned twins jumped and whirled around. Standing in front of them were Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny who had just come up from breakfast. The twins were standing in front of Sirius's room.

"Nothing!" George exclaimed.

Seeing Hermione's raised eyebrow he further explained, "We just wanted to see what his room is like. It's not like he ever talks about his life before Azkaban."

Harry blinked. It was true. Sure, Sirius talked about his time with James and the Marauders but he never talked about his own life.

"Aren't you curious?" Fred asked.

At this point the four teenager's curiosity was piqued. "All right." Hermione said. "But we need an adult."

Ron looked at her like she was crazy. "Who would come with us?"

"OW! Didn't see that stair. What's up guys?" They all turned and saw Tonks standing there with her hair in her favorite shade of bright pink.

"Tonks!" George said brightly. "Wanna do something fun?"

Tonks grinned. "Always. "

The seven of them slowly ventured into Sirius's room quietly.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Ginny whispered.

"Live a little, Gin" Fred said, walked around taking in all the pictures. He whistled at the pictures of the Muggle girls in bikinis. "Go Sirius."

All of a sudden Hermione gasped. They all turned to look and saw that she was standing in front of a pensive.

"What do we do?" she asked looking into its depths.

Harry shrugged and jumped in, the others following closely behind.

They landed in the Gryffindor boys dormitory. Harry jumped when he saw his dad sitting a few feet away from him. Lupin and Sirius were also in the room.

"They're sixth years." Hermione said pointing to the books that littered the floor.

"Sirius was so handsome." Ginny giggled.

"Why this memory?" Ron asked, after giving Ginny a look. "It's not that special."

"Maybe he wanted to remember the normality of those days." Hermione suggested.

"Or maybe it's because of that." Ron said looking towards the door.

They all looked and saw the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. She was exotic looking with black hair and dark skin. Her eyes twinkled as she stood in the doorway.

"Remmie!" she explained and jumped onto Remus's bed.

"Too much sugar, Kitty Kat?" he asked laying down next to her.

Tonks's eyes widened. How did they know each other?

"What's got you so excited?" James asked.

"An E on Charms!" the girl exclaimed. "And all thanks to you guys! I owe you one."

"Please, like you've ever paid us back." Sirius scoffed, but he was grinning none the less.

"We're best friends Sirius, and that's what best friends do." She stuck out her tongue. "Anyways, here's my address in Australia and you better owl me." She threw a piece of paper towards Remus.

Hermione moved closer and read "156 Mulberry Ave."

The scene vanished and the seven of them were back in Sirius's room.

Hermione looked around at them. "You know what we have to do right?"

Ron and Harry glanced at each other. "Leave?"

Hermione sighed exasperated. "No! We have to find her!"

Fred and George grinned.

"Little Miss. Perfect-"

"-wanting to break the rules!"

Hermione smiled too. "Obviously this girl means something and we need to find her. Let's just go to the address. Tonks?"

Tonks who had been thinking, jumped. "I think you're right. She means something. Probably to Remus. I'll take you guys."

All of them looked at each other with growing excitement.

"Let's do it."

Tonks made a Portkey and in a whirl they were on their way to Australia.


	2. Australia

They all landed in a penthouse suite.

"Wow!" Ginny said looking around "Where are we?"

"She's a Muggle!" Hermione exclaimed. "We're in a hotel."

All of a sudden, the elevators opened and the very same woman walked out. She had aged wonderfully and still looked as beautiful as she had in the memory, if not more.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she asked staring at them. "How did you even get in?"

"We're sorry." Harry said stepping forward. "But we think that you-"

"Harry?" the woman questioned. She had gone pale and was staring at him.

"You know me?" Harry asked, startled as well.

"I've known you since you were a kid." she said. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yea, I think we have an idea." Harry said, thinking that she was probably Lupin's long lost love,, judging from their behavior in the Pensive.

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

"To bring you back. There are people that have missed you a lot." Harry said.

"MOM! WHERE'S MY POTIONS BOOK!" a loud voice sounded.

They all wheeled around to find a teenage boy on the top of the stairs.

Ginny gasped.

"Sirius?" Hermione said, her voice shaking.

For once, even the twins were at a loss for words, because at the top of the stairs stood a boy who looked just like Sirius.

The boy looked puzzled as the descended the stairs. "Who are these people?"

The woman turned to look at them. "Wait, I thought you said that you knew who I was?"

"Yea," Ron said. "You're Lupin's girlfriend."

"L-Lupin!" the woman sputtered. "No!. I'm Kat. Kat Black. Sirius's wife."

Harry felt a roaring in his ears. Wife? Sirius had a wife. He had a family. Obviously judging by that boy's looks he was their son.

"This is my son, James."

There was complete silence.

"Then, why are you here?" Tonks asked.

"How about everyone sit down. This is a long story."

They all took seats around the couch and Kat began her story.

"I met Sirius when I transferred to Hogwarts in my fifth year. I became really close friends with James and Remus. After Hogwarts, we got married. Right after Lily and James. And then they died. I never believed that Sirius could have done it. I went to visit him in Azkaban and he told me everything. I would have gone looking for Peter but I was pregnant. When Sirius found out, he told me to leave. People wouldn't be too kind to Sirius Black's wife. So I came here. I had James and I waited. I knew that Sirius would come one day. I knew that after he escaped he would be on the run. I told James. But we still believed that he would come. Then Voldemort came back. And I knew that you needed him more."

Harry sat there shell-shocked. "But, you're his family. You need him too. He shouldn't have given you guys up for me."

Kat laughed. "He didn't give us up. We always considered you as our own son. James understands. He's had me. You've had no one. I knew that you needed him."

James grinned. "Don't worry about it Harry. I've been fine. Of course, I wanted to meet Dad but I've waited this long I could wait a little longer."

Harry stood up. "Well no more waiting! Come with us. You can see him right now!"

Kat looked uneasy. "I don't know…"

James took her face in his hands. "Mom. I know you're scared. But isn't this what we've always wanted. To see dad again?"

Kat sighed and nodded. "You're right. It's just… it's been so long."

"And we'll figure it out." James said.

Kat smiled. "Okay, go and pack."

James whooped and took off up the stairs.

They landed in the lobby of Grimmauld Place.

"He's probably in the kitchen." Ginny said.

They walked down to the kitchen and Kat saw Sirius's back.

"Hey there sexy." she said smiling.

"What's up beautiful?" he called back out of reflex.

Then he whipped around and saw her standing there.

"Kat?" he asked, his voice barely over a whisper.


	3. Old Friends

Kat smiled softly. "I hope there aren't too many girls calling you beautiful?"

Sirius walked slowly over to her. "B-But… How?"

Kat snorted though her eyes were filling with tears. "He's your godson after all."

"I missed you." Sirius said softly.

"Me too."

And then they were hugging and kissing. Tonks, Hermione, and Ginny had tears in their eyes. After all these years, Sirius looked happy.

"Gross." James whispered to the guys.

Sirius broke away and looked down at Kat's stomach. "BABY!" he yelled, his voice filling with joy as he stared at her belly.

Kat giggled. "Yes Sirius, there was a baby in there. Now that baby is a fourteen year old boy."

"A boy." Sirius said, his voice full of wonder.

"Hi Dad."

Sirius whipped around and gaped at his carbon copy. James also looked startled as it felt like he was looking in a mirror.

"Blimey." Ron said, "This is crazy."

James slowly walked towards his parents and without warning flung himself into Sirius. "I'm so glad to see you." His voice was muffled by Sirius's shoulder.

Sirius now had tears slipping down his face. "Good to see you too, son."

Kat joined their family hug. "His name is James," she whispered.

Sirius's arms tightened around the two of them.

All of a sudden, the door flew open. "Hey guys," Remus said walking in.

Kat pulled away and gaped. "REMMIE!" she cried, throwing herself at him.

Remus stumbled. "What the-," he mumbled pulling back a little. "Kat?"

Kat nodded hugging him again. "Remus, I've missed you so much."

"But, how? when? where?" he said stumbling over his words.

"Australia, Harry and friends, just now." she replied cheekily. "I'm sorry. For leaving you all alone."

"I'm sorry for not believing you." Remus replied. "And who is Sirius's twin over there?"

"Our son, James" Kat said warily, watching his reactions.

Remus blinked and then broke out into a grin. "You owe me 10 galleons, Padfoot."

"Fuck."

"SIRIUS!"

"And then James said 'There's now way I'm naming my kid after you.' So I bet Sirius that he would name his kid after James for James would after him. And here we are."

"You suck Moony." Sirius pouted as everyone else roared in laughter.

Molly was preparing dinner for the family. She along with Arthur had been shocked to learn that Kat was Sirius's wife and that they had a son together.

However, after a couple of hours together everyone had really bonded. James appeared to be just like Sirius in looks and personality. He was mischievous and funny. Although, every time he smiled, Kat's grin was etched onto his face.

"All right, everyone gather round. Dinner time!" Molly called. "Especially you James dear, and Kat. You must be tired after that long journey."

"Yeah and who went to get them? The next door neighbors?" Fred muttered as he sat down. Harry, Ron, and James snorted as they too sat at the table.

Before they could start eating, the door flung open.

"I'm here for the meeting." Snape said as he walked in.

"Oh, did no one tell you? The meeting has been moved to next week." Molly said. "Never mind that. Sit down and eat with us."

Kat gaped at the man in front of her. "No fucking way." she said under her breath. Sirius smirked from beside her. "Shocked?" he whispered.

Kat grinned. "Excited." She turned to look at Snape.

"Always out the loop, aren't you Snivillus?"

Snape's face drained of all color. "Bass."

"Actually it's Black now. But you never have been the brightest bulb so I'll let it go." she said casually.

The teenagers were staring with wide eyes as their Potions teacher verbally sparred with Kat.

"Watch it." Snape snarled. "Or else…"

"Or else what?" Kat scoffed. "Remember back in school, when I could kick your ass all the way to Japan and back? I'm still that bitch. So _you _watch it."

Snape growled, turned on his heel and left the room. George reached across the table and gave her a fist bump. "Nice one."

Kat grinned until she caught Remus look at her. "What Rem?" she said exasperatedly.

"You know what." he replied.

"Come on Remus. He's as greasy haired and ugly as ever. You can't expect me to not say anything."

Remus just shook his head. "Some things never change." he said as Sirius and Kat high-fived.


	4. The Favorite

The next day, everyone decided to relax a little and spend the day playing Quidditch.

"How the hell are we going to play Quidditch in here?" James asked, glancing around at the small room.

"You insult me, son of mine." Sirius said.

"I agree with Jay. This doesn't even make sense." Harry said, also observing the space that looked nothing like a Quidditch pitch. The teenagers behind the two of them all nodded their heads.

"This is mental." Ron muttered.

"Come off it. I'm not insane. We're gonna make it work." Sirius exclaimed.

Kat snorted as she walked into the room. "Sorry, did I just hear you say that you weren't insane?"

Sirius glared at her and she chuckled. "Don't worry love. You'll get help one day. Anyways, there is a charm that can turn the room into a Quidditch pitch. And luckily for you, yours truly happens to be amazing at Charms."

"Pshh. That was all us and you know it." Sirius scoffed.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun," Remus said walking into the room. "But Dumbledore has called an Order meeting right now."

"Now?" Sirius whined.

"Yes now, presumably to introduce Kat to the rest of the Order. The kids are invited too. So chop chop," he said turning to leave. "Oh and Kat, Charms was all us."

Kat huffed and followed him out the room along with the rest of the occupants.

When they reached the dining room, it was already filled with most of the Order members. Most of them had no idea who Kat was and stared as she walked in. They also looked startled when James walked in behind Ron and Hermione.

When Dumbledore, McGonnagall, and Snape walked in, the room fell silent.

"Oh Merlin." McGonngall gasped, staring at Kat. "You weren't joking."

Kat grinned widely. "Hi Minnie! Long time no see." She went forward to hug her former Transfiguration teacher.

"It really has been too long." McGonnagall replied. Sirius's jaw dropped open.

"What the hell Minnie? You never greeted me that warmly," he exclaimed.

"I always was her favorite," Kat said, throwing a smirk towards Sirius. Sirius growled.

"Well, let's see how much she likes you after the finds out about James!."

McGonnagall looked around confused. "James?" Kat gulped. "Well, you see, I might have, well it was Sirius's fault really…"

"Kat Black! Stop mumbling like an idiot and tell me about James." McGonnagall said.

"SIRIUS GOT ME PREGNANT." Kat yelled. McGonnagall stood still and then collapsed.

"P-pregnant?" she whispered.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Sirius yelled. "You're gonna blame this on me!" Kat stuck out her tongue and sat down next to McGonnagall.

"See the thing is Minnie, I kind of named him James."

McGonnagall gulped. "And the middle name?" she asked fearfully.

"Sirius." Kat said.

"Oh my word!" McGonnagall cried, leaping to her feet. "Are you trying to kill me, child? What were you thinking naming the kid after James Potter and Sirius Black. You must be insane!"

The room was silent until Sirius broke it.

"Actually, I was under the impression I was the insane one."

No one could take it anymore as they all burst out laughing. McGonnagall signed exasperated.

"Well," she said over the laughing that was still going on, "Where is he?"

James stepped forward. "Right here." he said waving his hand. "Hi!"

McGonnagall gaped at the boy that looked like Sirius's twin and then smiled. "I am very glad to meet you." Then she turned around and hugged Kat so hard that the younger woman could barely breathe. Everyone was smiling at the scene.

Well, everyone except for Snape and Sirius. Sirius was still grumbling.

"Why is she the favorite?"


	5. Introductions

"Well, why don't we let our newcomers introduce themselves?" Dumbledore said, before sitting down at the table.

"I shot first!" Kat yelled and stood up to talk to the front of the room.

"Not fair Mum!" James whined. "I wanted to go first."

"You snooze, you lose sweetie pie." Kat said, ruffling James's hair as she walked by. James's hand flew to his hair.

"Hey! Watch it!" he cried as Kat laughed.

"Merlin's beard." McGonnagall sighed. "He is his father."

Kat stood in front of the order members smiling brilliantly.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. Almost all of you have no idea who I am so here it goes. I'm Kat Black, previously Kat Bass. I was in the first Order of Phoenix so it's great to be back. I currently work as a fashion designer. I'm funny, smart, cool, and all around amazing," she finished beaming.

"And modest, too." Snape said sarcastically.

"At least I have something to brag about." Kat snapped back. The teenagers grinned eagerly, waiting for round two of Snape versus Kat but Dumbledore quickly put a stop to it.

"Good to have you back Kat." he said smoothly. "How about young Mr. Black now?"

Kat crossed her arms and stomped back to her seat and watched as James stood in the front of the room.

"Hello all you lovely people. My name is James Sirius Black. I attend Sydney's Academy of Magic. I like candlelit dinners and long walks in the rain…."

Everyone burst out laughing including James. "Ha. Just kidding. I actually love Quidditch and playing pranks. With my name who wouldn't.." McGonnagall was shaking her head and mumbling under her breath.

"My favorite subject is Charms." James finished, going back to his seat.

"Gets that from me." Sirius said proudly.

"Enough with the Charms." Kat hissed. Sirius just looked at her. Kat looked back. After a tense minute…

"FINE. YOU WIN! HAPPY?" Kat yelled. "YOU'RE BETTER AT CHARMS THAN ME. STOP WITH THE EYE THING!"

Sirius whooped. "Pay up, Moony. I told I would get her to say it."

"Thanks a lot, Kat. Lost all the money I made off the name bet." Remus grumbled.

Kat huffed. "Shows you for betting on me in the first place."

"What are we five?" Snape sneered. He was the only one who wasn't laughing.

"One of us is, asshole." Kat shot back.

"All right." Dumbledore said raising his hands. "I have called you all here today, not only to introduce Kat and James, but for some new information that I have received."

Molly interrupted him before he could go any further. "I think that the kids should go upstairs now."

"James can stay." Kat offered. "I've always been open with him and I want him to know everything about the war."

"What!" Harry shouted. "If James stays, I stay."

"I honestly think that none of them should be staying." Molly said, glaring at Kat. "This doesn't concern them."

"Are you serious?" Kat scoffed. "This has everything to do with them. Harry's seen things that even some Order members haven't seen. You aren't his guardian and ultimately the decision is his."

Molly stared. "And who are you to decide what Harry can and cannot do?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"No one." Kat replied calmly. "I'm just saying that Sirius is Harry's guardian and he should decide what's best. And you also have no right to tell Hermione what to do as she isn't you responsibility either."

Molly opened her mouth to reply but Dumbledore beat her to the punch. "Enough. Harry needs to be here as do the rest of the kids because it concerns them. I have found a set of seven books, each chronicling one of Harry's school years. I believe that they are essential in finding out how to defeat Voldemort."

"No. No way!" Harry exclaimed.

"Come on mate. It'll be cool." Ron said.

"Yea, they're not your thoughts being read out loud." Harry said.

"Harry," Sirius started. "I want to know about your years. And think about all the lives we can save if we know the future."

Harry paused, thinking about Cedric's death, which had just occurred a mere months ago.

"You're right. Let's do it," he said.


	6. The Boy Who Lived

**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived **

"I shall start the reading," Dumbledore said, clearing his throat.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. **

"You-" George started.

"-Welcome!" Fred finished.

"Assholes!" James finished, having heard all about the Dursleys from Harry the night before.

Fred and George grinned wickedly and gave James a high five. "Nice one!" they exclaimed.

Molly looked at Kat and Sirius obviously expecting them to reprimand James but they just shrugged. Kat had only just used that word to describe Snape. Chastising James would make her look like a hypocrite.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense**.**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache.**

"Gross." Tonks said. Many of the people around the room looked revolted.

"That's disgusting." Ginny said, shaking her head.

**Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences spying on the neighbors.**

"So nothings really changed." Harry said.

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Harry, Ron, Fred, and George burst out laughing.

"Is he serious?" Ron asked, gasping for breath.

"Has he ever even seen his son?" George questioned.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it.**

**They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"OI" Kat and Sirius said jumping up.

"There's nothing wrong with Potters." Hermione hissed. People around the room were murmuring insults under their breaths as Harry looked at them greatfully.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, **

"Yeah, well Lily wasn't too found of you either." Remus said.

**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be. **

"Thank god for that!" Sirius cried. "Wouldn't be able to look my best mate in the eye now would I?"

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. **

"They'd say look at those really cool people over there." James exclaimed as everyone else burst out laughing.

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"Like anyone would want to mix with your child." Tonks said scathingly.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest the strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Idiots." McGonnagall said under the breath.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **

Molly's mouth dropped open. "Boys…" she said in a scary quiet voice, "I hope you know that if you EVER did anything like that…"

"We know, mum." Fred said quickly while shooting a scared look towards his twin.

**He got into his car and backed out of number four's was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar**. **A cat reading a map. **

Everyone turned to look at McGonngall.

"Minnie, what in the world are you doing there?" Kat asked. McGonagall just motioned for Dumbledore to continue reading.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. **

Diggle snorted. Right. Trick of the light.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, **_**looking**_** at he sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or **_**signs.**

"He is insulting your intelligence, Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed. McGonnagall just sent him a withering look.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. AS he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks**

"CONSTANT VIGILIANCE!" Moody yelled. "What were they thinking?"

"Ow…" Tonks said rubbing her ear. "We get it Mad-Eye. No need to yell."

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion**

**He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a coulple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!**

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something…yes, that would be it. **

"I must say," Remus started. "That I have never met someone more…"

"Idiotic?" Tonks cut in.

"I was going to say slow but that works too."

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the streets did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime.**

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road **

"What!" Harry gasped. "He walked somewhere?"

"Looks like it." James said dazedly. "What a miracle."

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"Never mind."

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin.**

**It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I hear -"**

"**- Yes, their son, Harry -"**

"It's the day they died." Sirius whispered looking at the floor. Kat took his hand in hers.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking…no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name"**

"In the wizarding world, it is." Hermione said smartly.

**He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure his nephew **_**was**_** called Harry.**

"How could he not even know your name?" Molly fumed.

**He'd never seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if **_**he'd **_**had a sister like that…**

Sirius looked up suddenly furious. "Who does this guy think he is?" he roared. "Lily was a thousand times better than Petunia will ever be."

**but all the same, the people in cloaks…**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell**

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day"**

Moody growled. "I cannot believe he just said that."

"Sounds like Filius, actually." McGonnagall mused. "I'll have to ask him about it after I get back to school."

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

"His arms fit?" Ginny questioned, causing those around her to giggle.

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

Fred and George fell to the ground.

"No-"

"-imagination?"

"Who is this monster!" They exclaimed.

Molly sent them a look that sent them scrambling into their seats but her mouth was twitching into a smile.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around his eyes.**

"**Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

"Please." Sirius scoffed. "Like that would scare Minnie away."

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered**. **Trying to pull himself together, he led himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't").**

"What a horrible child." Molly fumed.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normal. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping patterns." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"**Well, Ted," **

"That's my dad!" Tonks exclaimed.

**said the weatherman, " I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, nad Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously…**

"**Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"Bitch." Sirius coughed.

"**No." she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls…shooting stars…and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

"_**So**_**?" snapped Mrs. Dursley**

"**Well, I just thought…maybe…it was something to do with…you know…**_**her**_** crowd"**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dare tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't' it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me"**

"Yeah Harry," James sniggered. "What a horrible name you have there."

"I told them." Kat said, shaking her head.

"What!" Harry yelped.

"I always said that Sirius Jr. was such a better name." Sirius said, laughing.

Harry grabbed a pillow and threw it towards Sirius. "Ha. Ha. Very funny guys."

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did…if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were**_** involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect **_**them**_**…**

**How very wrong he was.**

"Unfortunately." Harry said.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkled behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"DUMBLEDORE!" the whole room save for Snape cried.

**The man's name was Albus Dumbledore**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was welcome. **

"Oh, I knew that." Dumbledore said general amusement.

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known"**

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. **

"Wicked." the younger generation said.

"That's so COOL!" Kat said, basically bouncing in her seat. "Where can I get one?"

Dumbledore smiled at her. "This is one of my inventions."

"Well, in that case, my birthday's coming up. Wink wink." she replied.

"Mum, your birthday's in March." James pointed out.

"Shut up. I had you so that you could support me." Kat scowled playfully.

**Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him**

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment, he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall"**

"HA! KNEW IT!" Sirius yelled.

"Sirius!" Remus said exasperated. "Everyone in the room knew it. Now shut up and sit down."

Sirius sat down, pouting.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day." Said Professor McGonagall.**

"Damn, that's commitment." Tonks whispered.

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on the way here"**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars in Kent -I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense"**

"Thanks for that." Diggle said.

"**You can't blame them." Said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years"**

"It was a long time." Arthur said softly.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to loose our heads. People are becoming downright careless, out on the street in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors"**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't so she went on "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has **_**gone, Dumbledore?"**

"**It certainly seems so," Said Dumbledore.**

"We wish" the crowd chorused

"**We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"**A **_**what**_**?"**

"Come off it, Minnie! Never heard of lemon drops?" Kat exclaimed.

"We love those!" Sirius said.

"Yes, because you two along with Messers. Lupin and Potter would spend half the year in Dumbledore's office." she replied.

"**A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"**

"**No thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has**_** gone -"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort"**_

**Professor McGonagall flinched,**

"I don't anymore.," she said before anyone could comment on it.

**but, Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name"**

"**I know you haven't" said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, had admiring . "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, **_**Voldemort**_**, was frightened of"**

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have"**

"Only because you're too noble!" Molly told him

"**Only because you're too - well- **_**noble**_ **to use them"**

"Ohhh. Mum. You're like McGonagall!" George exclaimed.

Molly cuffed him in the back of the head.

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked me new earmuffs"**

"I could have lived my whole life happy not knowing that" Bill said

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said. "The owls are nothing next to the **_**rumors**_** that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer**

"**What they're **_**saying**_**," she pressed on, "Is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter…"**

Sirius's breath hitched.

"**The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - **_**dead"**_

"It was the worst day of my life." Sirius said hoarsely.

"Of all our lives." Kat said quietly. Snape had his head down, remembered Lily. Remus too looked horrible.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James…I can't believe it…I didn't want to believe it…Oh, Albus…"**

"Knew that you had a soft spot for us." Sirius whispered, the pain still evident on his face.

James reached over and put his hand on his father's shoulder and when Sirius turned to look at him, James gave him a huge smile. Sirius smiled back, oddly reassured by seeing his wife's grin coming from what seemed to be his own face.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know…I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill the little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone"**

Harry looked down, tears stinging his eyes. Hermione and Ron offered him support from both sides.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly**

"**It's - it's **_**true**_**?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done…all the people he's killed…he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding…of all the things to stop him…but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know"**

"But you know." Harry said stubbornly, looking at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore avoided the question by continuing to read.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why**_** you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now"**

"Wish you hadn't" Harry muttered.

"**You don't mean - you **_**can't**_** mean the people who live **_**here**_**?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"Woooo!" James exclaimed. "Go Minnie!"

"Mr. Black!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"What?" James asked, smiling mischievously." You can't punish me, Professor. I don't even go to Hogwarts." Sirius gave him a high five and McGonagall sat back, defeated.

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter"**

"It can't all be explained in a letter!" Remus exclaimed

"**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him!**

"Looks like you're like Minnie, Moony." Sirius said, clapping his friend on the back.

**He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -"**

"What!" Harry exclaimed, looking horrified. "There wouldn't-"

"Not that I know of." Remus said, calming Harry down.

"We should get on that." Fred whispered to George and James while they laughed.

"**There will be books written about Harry -"**

"And Hermione's read all of them." Harry chortled as Hermione hit him on the arm.

"**every child in our world will know his name!"**

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk.** **Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes -yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" she eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"**Hagrid's bringing him"**

"**You think it - **_**wise**_** - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life." Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Kat all said.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life" said Dumbledore**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "But you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"I want that back." Sirius said.

"That was the best motorcycle ever!" Kat exclaimed.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild**_** - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir" said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him sir"**

"Yes! Best person ever mentioned!" Sirius yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Kat asked. "I haven't even been mentioned yet?"

Everyone laughed and even Snape couldn't hold in a chuckle.

"**No problems, were there?"**

"**No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol"**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep.**

"Awww!" most of the girls cooed and Harry turned bright red.

"You were the cutest baby ever!" Kat proclaimed.

"Mum! What about me? You know? Your son!" James cried.

"Sorry honey. You just look too much like your father."

"HEY!"

**Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning**

"**Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

Harry tried to flatten his hair over his scar.

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Really?" Ginny said interestedly.

**Well - give him here, Hagrid -we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

"**Could I - could I say good-bye to him sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"**Shhhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

Sirius looked down. If only he hadn't been so stupid. As though he could read his thoughts, Kat put her hand on his back. She smiled at him reassuringly, letting him know that she was there for him.

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door**

**He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two**

"WHAT!" Kat yelled.

"On the doorstep!" Molly exclaimed.

Hermione had also stood up. "He could died. There could be death eaters around! Or it could have started snowing! Or…!"

Dumbledore raised his hands. "I assure you he was not in danger," and the three ladies reluctantly sat down.

**For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the sparkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be taking Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall -Professor Dumbledore, sir"**

"Yes!" Sirius yelled. "And I want it back!"

**Wiping his streaming eyes on the jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

Kat smiled at her favorite Professor. She knew how hard that must have been for her.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four**

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

"I'll need it." Harry whispered, too low for Hermione and Ron to hear.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley…. He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**


	7. The Vanishing Glass

"All right, who wants to read next?" Dumbledore asked, looking around.

"I think that you should just continue, Professer." Kat said and everyone else was nodding their heads in agreement.

"So be it."

**"The Vanishing Glass,**" Dumbledore read.

Fred and George grinned.

"Sounds like some- "

"-good old accidental magic."

Molly sighed. "With the twins and all the other kids we've had our fair share of mishaps."

"That's why accident magic-"

"-is the best!" the twins cried!

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.**

"That's stupid." James commented.

"Trust me, it's even more stupid when you have to stay there for extended periods of time." Harry replied.

Sirius glowered at that. He knew that Dumbledore wanted to protect Harry but he didn't see the point in making him stay in that hellhole for so long.

**Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,**

"Oh, that's disgusting." Tonks said looking revolted.

**and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,**

"What's a computer?" Ron asked.

Hermione opened her mouth but someone else beat her to the punch.

"It's a box where you can find out information and play games." James explained.

"Whoa." Ron said, looking mystified.

"How did you know that?" Hermione asked critically.

"Please, Hermione." James said crinkling his nose. "Did you already forget that my mum's a muggle-born and I live with my uncle who also happens to be a muggle."

Hermione blushed.

**being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

"And why is that?" Kat questioned angrily.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.** "**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"I would hate to wake up to that." Ginny said.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"It's not a dream!" Sirius exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

"Now you actually look like Padfoot." Harry deadpanned.

Sirius stopped abruptly and glared at his godson as Kat leaned over to give Harry a high-five.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

**Harry groaned.**

"She always was a snippy bitch." Kat commented lightly.

Harry looked at her surprised. "You knew Aunt Petunia?"

"Knew her?" Kat started, "I'd only met her once or twice but Sirius- umph!"

She was cut off when Sirius put his hand over her mouth.

"Sirius what?" James asked.

"Nothing!" Sirius said. "EW! You licked my hand!"

"Too bad! You know I hate it when people do that!." Kat exclaimed. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Petunia had the biggest crush on Sirius!"

Complete silence. And then…

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!"

Everyone was rolling around in full on laughter. Even Snape let out a snort or two.

"Shut up!" Sirius grumbled. "She tried to seduce me. I'm scarred for life. Just continue, Professor!"

"**Nothing, nothing…"**

**Dudley's birthday — how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider**

Ron shuddered.

**off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, **

"Ugh! Enough with the spiders, man!" Ron said looking at Harry while the twins looked on amused.

But Harry was preoccupied. The only reason that the spiders would be mentioned would be because of the cupboard.

"Oh no." he whispered.

**because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"What?" was shouted by everyone in the room.

Kat stood up and walked towards the door but was caught by the waist by Remus.

"Let me go, Remus! I'm going to go give that fat whale of a being and his wife a piece of my mind. How dare they! They don't deserve to live!" she shouted.

Molly and Professor McGonnagall weren't too far off of what Kat was doing. Even Fred and George had no words.

Ginny had tears in her eyes and Sirius was looking at his godson.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he whispered.

Harry looked at Sirius. "Because it's over. I have a room now. It's okay." he said calmly.

"Harry, mate," Ron started, but he was cut off when Hermione flung her arms around her best friend.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered.

"It's okay." Harry said into her shoulder.

James stared at the ground. No one deserves that. No one.

Sirius went over to where Kat and Remus were and brought his wife back to the couch.

"I promise you that he's not going back there." he said, taking her face in his hands.

"I promise. No one's going to stop me this time." he finished glaring up at Dumbledore.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise — unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"He better not mean you!" Kat said angrily, as Sirius growled.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, **

"That little-" Kat said, and then proceeded to let out a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush.

"Kat!" Molly cried, but was surprised when Ginny let out a similar string. "Ginevra!"

Kat smiled softly at the fiery redhead as the rest of the room started at her in shock.

"I don't even want to know where you learned those words." Fred said dazedly.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast**.

"Small mercies" Arthur muttered.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"That has nothing to do with that." Sirius smirked.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobby knees, black hair,**

"Just like his old man!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You really do look like his twin." Kat said as Harry beamed

**and bright green eyes.**

"Lily's eyes." Professor McGonagall said.

"You should have heard the ridiculous poems your father would write about them. It made us sick." Sirius chortled.

"Oh, I think we can guess." George said, sending a sly look towards Ginny.

Both Harry and Ginny blushed a deep red color.

**He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"Whoa!" Ron said. "You liked your scar?"

Harry shrugged. "I didn't know what it meant back then."

**He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said.**

"THAT FILTHY-" Kat started, but James had stood up and went to stand behind his mother. He put his arms on her shoulders.

"Deep breaths, mum. Remember, in and out. Count to ten."

"What are you doing?" Tonks asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Oh, it's just some anger management techniques." James replied.

Sirius burst out laughing. "You- you, hahahaha, anger management!"

Kat glared at both James and Sirius.

"You shut up!" Kat hissed, kicking Sirius in the leg.

"And you!" Kat said, turning to James. "You just looked that stuff up online so don't make them think I'm a psycho."

"Too late for that." Remus said lightly.

"**And don't ask questions."**

"Don't ask question!" Hermione said incredulous. "How could he survive if he isn't allow to ask questions?"

**Don't ask questions — that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"Never gonna work." Kat, Sirius, and Remus all sang at once.

"You should have seen the battles your dad had with the comb. It was like World War III." Kat giggled.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way — all over the place.**

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked****a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes.**

"Gross." Ginny moaned.

**Aunt Petunia** **often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel — Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"Lily's cheek." Remus said fondly.

Snape glared at the Potter spawn on the couch. He was nothing like Lily.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Please, that would require way to much effort." Harry scoffed.

Ron gave him a high-five.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"** **Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"Bloody hell! This boy's an idiot!"

Everyone turned towards the voice shocked as it was Professor Mcgonagall who had said it.

"Why Minnie!" Sirius said. "I'm shocked and appalled that you would use such language."

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"This is despicable!" Molly sputtered. "Encouraging that kind of behavior!"

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR.** **He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him."**

**She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"Sounds like a good time." James said dryly.

"I hate cats." Sirius muttered. Professor McGonnagall shot him a look.

"Except you, of course, Minnie!" he said, shooting her a grin.

"That didn't work back when you were in school, and it's not going to work now, Mr. Black." she said icily.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

"**What about Marge?" Vernon suggested **

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"Well, the boy hates her too." Harry said.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there — or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend — Yvonne?"**

"**On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"So she looks like she always does." Kat said.

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"**

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"**

"The car?" Ginny said furiously. "What about Harry?"

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying — it had been years since he'd really cried — but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"What a wuss." Ron said.

Molly opened her mouth to reprimand him but Hermione got there first.

"Ronald!" she said sharply.

"Sorry, Mione." he muttered.

Mrs. Weasley exchanged a gleeful grin with her husband.

"**Dinky Duddydums,**

"What!" Sirius sputtered. "She seriously calls him that."

Harry laughed. "Wait till you hear the other ones.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"**I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang — "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically — and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.**

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy — any funny business, anything at all — and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"It's magic, my boy." James said in a mystical voice.

Harry punched him in the arm.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already****laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"The Potter hair has magical powers of its own." Sirius said solemnly.

Harry laughed.

"You laugh now." Kat said. "But once, your grandmother cut off James's hair and when he woke up the net morning it was all back to the way it was before the cut it. She was flabbergasted."

"Flabbergasted?" Sirius said. "What kind of word is that?"

"The good kind." Kat said, firmly.

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).**

Tonks wrinkled her nose.

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.**

All the people reading smiled.

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Thank god." Hermione said.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"Oh my god! You apparated!" Hermione cried.

"I'm pretty sure he flew." Ron said.

"Apparated!"

"Flew!"

"APPARATED!"

"FLEW!"

"SHUT UP!" the whole room cried at the feuding couple. Both of them looked around as though they had just noticed that they weren't alone.

"It could have been either." Sirius informed Harry. "But either way it's very impressive."

Snape who had remained silent during this exchange knew that the boy had flown. After all, he had seen Lily do the same thing when they were younger.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trashcans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

"Yea, yea." Harry said, before anyone else could comment. "I was pretty stupid back then."

"Just back then?" James asked.

"Shut up." Harry grumbled.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

"Do you think he hates Harry?" Fred asked sarcastically.

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"What!" Sirius and Kat both exclaimed.

"This is preposterous. Letting him live with people who don't love motorcycles." Kat huffed.

"I don't see the appeal." Snape said dryly.

"Have you never been on one? Don't answer that. I know you haven't. So shut up." Kat said.

"… **roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"Oh it wasn't a dream." Sirius said.

"I know that now." Harry pointed out.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon — they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop.**

Kat conjured up bowls of ice creams for all the kids.

"There you are." she said, satisfied.

"We love you!" the twins chorused.

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

"You're getting to Marauder material!" Sirius cried, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

The room hissed as a whole.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"Oh my god! He is such a nuisance." Tonks cried.

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"**I get that all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"You're talking to the snake." Sirius said, in shock.

"Do you hate me?" Harry asked, anxiously.

"No." Kat said firmly. "Of course not. You have to understand, Harry. Parseltounge is a gift. It's just that during these times it's seen as a sign of a dark wizard. We know it's not. After this war is over, it'll be seen as a gift again. You're the same person you've always been."

Harry stood up suddenly and gave Kat a tight hug.

"Thank you." he whispered. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he had a family. For him, Sirius and Kat were like his own parents. They had been there when he was younger and in a way, they knew him better than anyone else.

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

"Enter the whale." Ginny said with a straight face.

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor.**

Remus growled.

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"Wooooo!"

"Go Harry!"

"Brilliant!"

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."**

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"Poor fellow." Arthur said.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

"That little twerp." Ron said.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go — cupboard — stay — no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

"No wonder you're so skinny!" Mrs. Weasley said. "We'll have to get some food in you immediately."

"Maybe an examination with Poppy will also be beneficial." McGonngall said.

Harry gave her a look of pure horror.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"I think that you will be able to earn your Marauder stripes sooner rather than later." Sirius whispered to Harry.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

"There's no way that you can remember that." Kat said, staring at him in horror.

"I remember it even clearer now." Harry muttered.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

"Don't worry." Sirius said, softly, "between the three of us, we have many, many pictures."

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

Sirius looked down at that.

"I am so sorry." he whispered. "It's all my fault. If I had only…." he trailed off, knowing that he would never have been able to control himself.

Harry looked at his godfather. "Sirius, I don't care. You're my family and I know that I couldn't have asked for a better godfather. I love you."

"I love you too, kid." he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

**the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.**

**A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"These idiots." Mad-Eye hissed.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**


End file.
